How Ukrposhta earns money on stamps during the war and becomes known all over the world

How Ukrposhta earns money on stamps during the war and becomes known all over the world

Ukrposhta spends the proceeds from the sale of stamps to purchase demining equipment, equip bomb shelters, and donate to animal shelters.
Obscene gestures rarely make it onto postage stamps, but Ukraine's most famous stamp depicts a soldier giving the middle finger to a Russian warship, a symbol of the standoff off Zmiinyi Island on the first day of the full-scale invasion almost three years ago. This is stated in a BBC news report, which Foreign Ukraine translates.
The warship in question is the cruiser Moskva, which was sunk by the Ukrainian military two days after the stamp was issued, sold out within a week of going on sale, and what was left was given to government delegations representing Ukraine on the world stage.
Igor Smelyansky, the head of Ukrposhta, admits that it was a risky move.

“It was my decision. I didn't care what anyone else thought. I just thought it was the right thing to do. I knew it violated all the rules of philately,” Smelyansky explained.
“Ukrposhta often tests new stamp designs in public, and the results of such online polls are usually highly politicized.
This is how Ukraine's most popular stamp appeared, featuring a Ukrainian tractor pulling a captured Russian tank and a popular wartime greeting: “Good evening, we are from Ukraine.” “Ukrposhta sold about 8 million of these stamps.
The stamps featuring the famous Ukrainian mine-sniffing dog “Patron” brought Ukrposhta about $500,000: 80% of this money was spent on demining equipment and the rest on animal shelters.
Another stamp depicting a mural left by the famous graffiti artist Banksy on a building destroyed by shelling near Kyiv helped finance 10 bomb shelters. This stamp depicts another popular but obscene Ukrainian slogan against Vladimir Putin.
“We added a little humor to the stamps to support the Ukrainian spirit during the war with Russia. Humor has become a driving force for Ukrainians in this war. Even in the most difficult circumstances, you need to treat everything with a sense of humor. And this is what our brands sometimes emphasize,” emphasizes Smelyansky.
Oscar Young of the British philatelic dealer and auction company Stanley Gibbons says that Ukraine's approach to stamps, which focuses on the war, is very unusual.
“Usually, stamps are artistic and polite, but to be rude, to put profanity and gestures on stamps is quite unique to these particular issues. The explicit depiction of a warship on the stamp made it world famous and caused a real stir,” says Young.
The unique character of Ukrainian stamps has made them popular among collectors around the world.
Laura Bulivant from the UK believes that stamps from other countries look bland compared to Ukrainian ones.

“I think they are similar to the Ukrainian thought process, they are strong and indomitable. In times of great anxiety and horror, they bring something that no other country could do,” concludes Bulivant.

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